The New Girl
by AbyssMadness
Summary: John is just trying to make it through a typical school day when a new student gets in his way and catches his attention. (Homestuck AU)


John walked as quickly as he possibly could to his English class, which he was about to be late for. Again. Dave had detained him at his locker, insisting that John listen to some new verses he'd come up with during study hall earlier that day. John always tried to be punctual, and when he wasn't, Dave was assuredly behind it. John would have to talk to him about that; he couldn't afford to be late to class again, or he would lose participation points.  
He slid into the classroom just before the bell rang, and, exhaling a sigh of relief, made his way towards his seat. John stopped abruptly, however, upon finding his desk occupied. She was a tall, blonde girl, a girl John had never seen before. She wore dark, faded blue jeans, a grey zip-up hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of bright red Converse sneakers. She was very pretty, and possessed an air of unconcern for the people around her. Surely he would have remembered seeing this girl around.  
"Um, hi," John began nervously. "I'm sorry to bother you, but you seem to be in my seat." He smiled apologetically. The girl looked up at him, expressionless.  
"I saw an empty seat, so I sat in it. Maybe in the future, you should get to class on time." She smiled a short-lived, insincere smile before looking away from him. John stood for a moment, not knowing what he should do, before shuffling to the back of the room, where he took a seat at an empty, heavily scribbled upon desk. Mr. Taylor, the tenth grade English teacher, cleared his throat at the front of the room.  
"Class, I'd like you all to meet our newest arrival, Miss Vriska Serket. I hope you'll all make her feel welcome, and will offer to help her catch up if necessary." He gestured towards the girl who had taken John's seat. Vriska Serket. What an odd name, John thought.

John let himself relax as he sat down beside Dave at their lunch table. Dave was John's best friend, despite their differences. John had dark hair and glasses, while Dave was a blond who, if he wasn't in school, would not be seen without his shades. John was a sucker for cheesy movies, much to Dave's dismay. As such, Dave was interested in writing and recording his own rap lyrics, which, despite his support, could be an annoyance to John. Dave was muttering to himself, tray untouched, as John arrived, so John turned his attention to the two girls sitting across from them.  
Rose and Jade were cautiously poking at what appeared to be Jell-O cups with whipped cream on top.  
"I don't believe whipped cream is supposed to be this solid," Rose mused, audibly clicking her spoon against the aforementioned cream. Jade laughed.  
"I think I'm going to start packing my lunch. Every day, the school manages to present something unappetizing," she said, watching as Rose scraped the hardened white mass off the top of her Jell-O cup.  
"Sick, dude. You're not actually going to eat that, are you?" Dave was looking at his sister in horror. Rose raised an eyebrow at him as she proceeded to slowly bring the spoon to her mouth and shovel it in. She swallowed.  
"The Jell-O is fine, Dave. It's the 'whipped cream' we have to worry about," she assured him. He didn't look at all convinced. He noticed that John wasn't paying attention and was instead staring towards the lunch lines. Dave followed his gaze, which seemed to dwell on an attractive, leggy blonde. He smirked.  
"Earth to John," he said, waving his hand in front of John's face. "Who is she?" Dave's waving arm had also caught the attention of Jade and Rose, who looked to see what the fuss was about.  
"Oh, erm," John shook his head, as though trying to clear it. "Her name is Vriska, and she's in my English class. Today is her first day here. She sat in my seat." He frowned at the memory.  
"You just let some strange broad saunter in and take your seat?" Dave was indignant. "I'd be telling her to find somewhere else to sit." Rose gave him an exasperated look.  
"Yes, Dave. We do not doubt that you would." She turned to John. "She seems to be either very aloof, or very shy, standing off on her own like that."  
"She definitely isn't shy, that's for sure. She was actually pretty rude to me in class today."  
"She's probably going through a lot right now, being the new girl and being around all these strange people. You should ask her to sit with us, John!" Jade seemed excited. She always liked meeting new people. John imagined himself asking this standoffish girl to join he and his bizarre friends for lunch. He did not see how the outcome could possibly be a good one.  
"I don't think she'd like to be bothered, guys," John said.  
"You're not afraid of her now, are you? That would be so pathetic." Dave dug a hole in the center of his mashed potatoes. John glared at him.  
"Of course not. I just really don't think she's the approachable type," he said, shrugging.  
"Everybody is approachable," Jade argued. "You just have to know how to do it. John, just walk over there and ask her if she'd like to sit with us. Please?" John sighed and slowly rose from the table.  
As he made his way to where Vriska was standing, John felt his stomach turn. Usually, talking to people wasn't a big deal. Socially, he could handle himself reasonably well. There was just something about this girl that made John feel uneasy.  
"Hey! Vriska, right? My name is John. We met in English today," he said, smiling and offering his hand. Vriska's eyes flickered between his face and his outstretched hand. John's smile began to droop.  
"Yeah. Hi. Is that all you wanted?" John flinched at her tone, a mixture of boredom and annoyance. Then he stood up straighter. She was irritating him.  
"I came over to ask you if you wanted to sit with me and my friends, but clearly our company wouldn't be desirable." He began to turn away.  
"I don't need your pity, kid. I've been the new girl before, and I can survive it again. It just gets really old after a while," Vriska muttered. John faced her again, encouraged by this response.  
"It isn't pity. We just like getting to know new people. We're a weird group, not gonna lie, but we have fun." John smiled winningly. A small smile crossed Vriska's face briefly before disappearing.  
"Okay, you win," Vriska relented. "I'll come and sit with you and your friends. It's not like I have anywhere else to be." She followed John back to his lunch table, and stood awkwardly beside him.  
"Guys, this is Vriska. Vriska, these are my friends: this is Rose, that's my sister, Jade, and that's Dave." John gestured to each of them as they were introduced. There was a chorus of greetings as the two sat down. Jade adopted her brightest smile.  
"I'm so glad you decided to sit with us today! John and I were new here once, so we know what it's like to come in and just feel so overwhelmed. You don't know where to sit anywhere, all day long, and everybody is afraid to talk to you. Well, not us. Right, guys?" Jade was generally of a sunny disposition, unless provoked to anger. While Rose was more cynical and sarcastic, they seemed to play off of each other's personalities quite well. And then there was Dave, whose disposition was just...well, Dave.  
"Tone it down, will ya, Jade? You're going to scare the girl off. It's unnatural to have so much energy in a place like this," Dave asserted.  
"No," Vriska began. "It's nice to know that some people can manage to pull their heads out of their own behinds long enough to help a girl out." She grinned. "I know I can be intimidating and sometimes downright mean, but I can't help it. I hate people." Dave raised his fork.  
"I second that. I like this girl, John. You should bring her around more often."

During the rest of the lunch period, Vriska had proceeded to tell them about her life before she moved. She was a New York City native, and she had the attitude to prove it. She'd been to a few different schools, never settling down for long. This time, however, she would be staying until she graduated. Vriska puzzled John. She seemed to be several people all at once, each one fighting to be seen and heard. She could be dazzlingly charming. She could be quiet an solemn. She could be funny, making them all laugh effortlessly. She could be rude and sometimes even icy. She was clearly very smart and was aware of the fact. None of this is what got to John, however. He watched and listened to her as she spoke, and as he listened, he got two impressions. One, she thought very highly of herself, and two, she hated herself. How could such feelings coexist inside one person? He decided he wanted to know this girl. She fascinated him, and his friends liked her. John determined to invite her when they all got together again.

The next day in English class, John and Vriska both took seats in the back of the room, next to one another. They spent the period discussing their classmates. Vriska would ask about them, and John would tell her what he knew. Vriska, who always found fun in people watching, made up interesting and outrageous stories about them all, creating a sort of secret soap opera for John and herself. John couldn't remember the last time he'd payed so little attention in class. He also couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so much.

As weeks passed, Vriska casually merged into the little group of friends. She found herself becoming quite chummy with Rose. When united, they provided a beautiful harmony of sarcasm and snarky remarks. Rose quickly became Vriska's favorite people-watching companion. While Vriska and Jade were two very different people, they both had well-developed, albeit unusual, senses of fashion, and they enjoyed shopping together. Much to Dave's delight, Vriska was impressed by his rhyming capabilities. Of course, she thought he was a total dork, but she had to admit he had promising talent. Dave appreciated Vriska's company immensely, often bringing up how "refreshing" it was to have someone in the group who "gets it."  
While she grew close to those three, John remained her favorite. He retained a somewhat childlike outlook on life, which Vriska found endearing and rejuvenating. He was always ready for an adventure, and Vriska always had something new planned. Although he tried to suppress it, a part of John could become defensive and irritated when provoked. Vriska took much pleasure in figuring out how to push his buttons.  
"I have to agree with Dave about the movies you watch. I've seen parts of them with you, and John, they are god-awful," Vriska said with a grimace.  
"No, no, no. You have to see them all the way through to really appreciate them. And anyway, you haven't seen Con Air yet. Just you wait." John smiled. Con Air was John's favorite movie. Dave frequently gave him hell for this. "You should come over later and watch it with me," John suggested.  
"Oh, fine. But you have to supply the popcorn. And tell your dad to ease up on the pastries. I love devouring fluffy morsels of pure sugar as much as the next girl, but I can only eat so much before I'll never want to see another baked good again." Vriska pretended to shiver.  
"Ha! Imagine how I feel. I haven't been able to eat any kind of pastry for at least five years now. My stomach turns at the sight or smell anymore. But baking is what my dad loves, so he gets excited when presented with opportunities to do so. He and my Nanna used to bake together, so I guess it's something pretty special to him," John explained. Vriska liked hearing about John's family. He and his father were very close, and it sounded like his Nanna had been just as nurturing. She laughed when John told her about all of the pranking that went on at home, starting with his grandmother. Fun and mischief were wrapped up in his family's history. John wasn't afraid to be a goofball, just as his dad and Nanna never were.  
Vriska couldn't help but envy John. She lived alone with her mother, who was always too busy to bother much with her daughter. She was a businesswoman, so she did a lot of traveling, and she was never home. Vriska had never known her father or any of her grandparents. She didn't even know of any aunts, uncles, or cousins. She sighed, and John looked at her.  
"It's okay, I'm sure he'll understand, Vriska," John assured her, misunderstanding her sigh.

At the sound of Vriska's knock, John flew to the door and threw it open. He was clearly very excited, to Vriska's amusement.  
"How many times have you seen this movie? There is no reason for you to be this eager to watch it," she teased.  
"I honestly couldn't tell you how many times I've watched this movie. Back when we had the VCR, I went through several VHS tapes, wore them all out. Thank goodness for DVDs," John said, laughing. He had the movie set up and ready to go, so all he had to do was hit play when they got to the couch. "Oh yeah, I made cheddar cheese popcorn. I remember you saying once that you preferred it over regular." He handed her a large, nearly overflowing white bowl of bright orange-yellow popcorn.  
"Wow, I can't believe you remembered that," Vriska said, surprised. Nobody ever bothered to pay attention to the things she liked and disliked. She was touched by the small gesture.  
"Well, yeah. I'm pretty good at paying attention to things like that." John shrugged. "Okay, now we have to be quiet and watch. You're going to love this."  
Much to Vriska's surprise, the movie was not exactly the monstrosity that Dave always made it out to be. Also to her surprise, she found herself having a schoolgirl crush on Nicolas Cage.  
"He is a pretty good-looking guy," said John casually. Vriska laughed.  
"I'll fight you for him," she said, raising her eyebrows. John snorted.  
"You can have him," he insisted. " As long as you let me tag along on your dates so I can hang out with him." Vriska rolled her eyes.  
"So I could sit by and watch the two of you go on dates together? As if. I'd die of jealousy."  
"I wouldn't hog him all the time. I'm not greedy," John said, sticking his tongue out playfully. Vriska took on his sportive attitude.  
"Who said I'd be envying you?" she teased.  
"Come on. It's Nic Cage. Of course you'd be jealous," stated John. Vriska laughed, something she'd been doing a lot since she met John. She liked it. She liked this version of herself, the happier, more carefree Vriska.  
"I'm happier than I've ever been, just sitting here on this couch. I don't need to go out on dates with hot, sweaty celebrities." She smiled at John, who beamed back at her.  
"I'm glad you're happy here. I have to say, the first time I met you, I never would have thought we'd end up here, you know?"  
"Tell me about it. I never would have believed that I'd be sitting on this couch, being served endless baked goods from the muffin man himself. Or that I'm about to kiss this huge nerd who persists in hanging around." She smiled. John was about to speak, but he stopped.  
"Wha-" Vriska leaned in, bold as you please, and kissed the startled boy. "Wow, what was that for?" he asked, his face and ears bright red.  
"I like you, you weirdo," Vriska laughed. "I was hoping that maybe...I don't know, maybe you like me, too?" She smiled, but her eyes betrayed her nervousness. John grabbed her hand.  
"Of course I like you, silly! I thought you knew. I just never would have guessed that you felt that way about me. Dave, maybe, but not me," he confessed. Vriska made a face of mock horror.  
"Dave? Ugh." She laughed. "Dave is pretty cool, and I like him, but not in that way. I like you, John. We just have so much fun together. I feel ready to take on the world when we're out doing stuff. I was starting to forget that feeling."  
"Wow. I didn't know hanging out meant that much to you," said John in wonder. "But I'm glad I could help in some way." He looked down at their intertwined fingers. "So, uh, what do we do now?" Vriska smiled mischievously.  
"John, What do you think your dad would say to me joining in on the family prank war?"


End file.
